King Willem-Alexander apologises for Dutch atrocities in Indonesia’s independence war
Dutch King Willem-Alexander apologised to Indonesia on Tuesday for “excessive violence” during the former colony’s independence struggle in the 1940s. Indonesia declared its independence on August 17, 1945 following a brief wartime occupation by the Japanese and several hundred years as a Dutch colony. “The past cannot be erased, and will have to be acknowledged by each generation in turn,” the king said in a joint statement.